Steven Hiller
| rank = Colonel | residence = Los Angeles Washington, D.C.Independence Day: Crucible | affiliation = U.S. Marine Corps ESD | profession = Fighter pilot | marital = Married | spouse = Jasmine Dubrow | children = Dylan Dubrow-Hiller | actor = Will Smith | firstseen = Independence Day | lastseen = Independence Day: Crucible }} Steven "Steve" Hiller was a U.S. Marine Corps F/A-18 pilot and Captain of the Black Knights squadron stationed at El Toro in Irvine, California. He was a war hero of the War of 1996 in which he participated in the destruction of the alien mothership. Following the war, he was promoted to Colonel and enlisted in the Earth Space Defense. In 2007, he tragically died test piloting the ESD's first alien hybrid fighter. Biography Background Steven had aspirations of becoming an astronaut. But despite his excellent service record, he was rejected by NASA. War of 1996 When the aliens arrived on Earth, Steven and his girlfriend Jasmine Dubrow slept unaware until waking up that morning to see a City Destroyer hovering over Los Angeles. Steven was called back from his leave despite Jasmine's protests and fear. To reassure her, he asked Jasmine to bring herself and her son Dylan to stay with him at El Toro. After the aliens began their attack, Steven lead the Black Knights in a counterattack on the City Destroyer near what remains of Los Angeles. The counterattack became a disaster as the Destroyer and its attackers are equipped with energy shields that made them invulnerable to conventional weapons. Steven's entire squadron was wiped out, forcing him and his wingman Jimmy Wilder to flee while being chased by attackers. Jimmy is soon killed during the pursuit. However, Steven managed to down one of his pursuers with his jet's parachute and crashing their aircraft in Nevada. In the process, Steven subdued the attacker's pilot. Steven took the unconscious alien captive and dragging it across the Nevada desert until he was rescued by a large convoy of refugees, which Steven was offered a lift by Russell Casse. Steven helped guide the convoy to Area 51, where he present the alien as his "clearance" and granting the refugees access to the base. After the alien was taken to isolation, Steven then request General William Grey for permission to return to El Toro, but only to learn that the base was destroyed, leading him to believe that Jasmine and Dylan are dead. Unknown to Steven, they had survived and arrived at El Toro after the attack. Hiller later took a helicopter and flew to El Toro where he was relieved to see Jasmine alive along with several survivors, including First Lady Marilyn Whitmore. He then brought them back to Area 51. When a plan was first proposed to launch a counterattack against the invaders, Steven volunteered to be the pilot of the repaired attacker, with David Levinson accompanying him to implement a computer virus and plant a nuclear missile on board the alien mothership; Hiller reasoned that he had seen the ships in action and was thus uniquely qualified to adapt to what it was capable of in flight. Prior to their mission, Steven officially married Jasmine. Steven and David successfully carried out their objective and barely manage to escape as the nuclear warhead completely destroys the mothership. The two safely crash land in the desert near Area 51 and are greeted by their families and congratulated by President Whitmore. Post-War Despite the aliens' defeat, Hiller participated in neutralizing surviving alien remnants in Russia. Some years following after the invasion, Steven and his family temporarily lived in Washington, D.C. until moving to Nevada in which he joined the Earth Space Defense, serving as a test pilot and flight trainer. He was sent to China as a technical advisor and became acquainted with Jiang Lao and his niece Rain Lao, to whom he gave an autograph. In 2007, he volunteered to test flight an experimental alien hybrid fighter while realizing the potential hazard of the aircraft in which he conscientiously refused to have inexperienced pilots be put in danger in the fighter. Hiller flew the fighter in the 2007 ESD Spring Expo; in which the aircraft malfunctioned, causing it to violently explode, killing Hiller. Hiller's death was heavily publicized during which time the Lucas Jacobs administration came under fire for gross negligence for rushing the prototype hybrid fighter before it was ready. The incident also caused David Levinson to become Director of the ESD in order to prevent similar government negligence over the ESD. Gallery ''Independence Day'' Hiller_01.png ScreenShotj003.jpg ScreenShjot004.jpg ScreenShot005.jpg ScreenShyot006.jpg ScreenShotn011.jpg ScreenShot0m14.jpg Hiller_03.png Hiller_04.png Hiller_05.png Hiller_06.png ScreenShomt059.jpg ScreenSkhot060.jpg ScreenShhot061.jpg ScreenShot06y5.jpg ScreenShot00l5.jpg ScreenShot014í.jpg Hiller_08.png 98248.jpg Hiller_11.png Hiller_12.png Hiller_13.png Hiller_14.png Hiller_15.png Hiller_16.png Hiller_17.png Hiller_18.png Hiller_19.png Hiller_21.png ''Independence Day: Resurgence'' Independenceday-1.jpg|Headline news reporting on the death of Steven Hiller. Hiller portrait.png will-smith-independence-day-resurgence.png Memorable Quotes Appearances *''Independence Day/''novel *''ID4: Independence Day'' *''Independence Day: Crucible'' *''Independence Day: Resurgence/''novel Behind the Scenes *Will Smith's "Now that's what I call a close encounter" line is a reference to the film Close Encounters of the Third Kind. *Will Smith's line, "And what the hell is that smell?" while ranting about having to drag an unconscious alien through the desert was unscripted. The desert setting was filmed on the salt flats near Great Salt Lake in Utah. Great Salt Lake is home to brine shrimp. When they die, the bodies sink to the bottom of the lake (which isn't very deep) and decompose. When the wind kicks up just right, the bottom mud is disturbed and the smell of millions of decaying brine shrimp can be very very bad. Apparently, nobody warned Will Smith. *During early production for Independence Day: Resurgence, Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin had hoped for Will Smith to reprise as Steven Hiller. However, Smith declined the role after Emmerich stated that "he's too expensive."http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Smith-Won-t-Back-Independence-Day-2-41558.html Due to his absence from Resurgence, Steven Hiller was written off in having been killed in a experimental aircraft accident, although a portrait of him is displayed in the new White House when Dylan Hiller sees the President and Patricia Whitmore, and is also seen in a group photo in Dylan's locker. References Category:Americans Category:Characters Category:Earth Space Defense personnel Category:Independence Day Category:Independence Day (novel) characters Category:Independence Day: Crucible characters Category:Pilots Category:Deceased